Friday, April 22, 2011

Powder Coating our Trailer in Army Green

We received our trailer back from the painters today. They used three steps sandblasting, zinc etched, and then powder coated it in Olive Drab. They did a great job at painting every little nook and cranny of the trailer. Hopefully this will ensure a long service life. We got straight to work taping off the fenders and spraying bed liner under them. We then used spray adhesive to line the contact surfaces with rubber from a bicycle inner tube. We did this to minimize rattles and try to keep sand and dirt from rubbing away the newly painter surfaces. Next we will reassemble all the parts.



Sunday, April 3, 2011

Who's camping chair is better?

Well Jonathan and I are in disagreement about who's camping chair is better. I think at the end of this article you will understand how I (Andrea) am right. (this never happens)
First I will tell you about Jonathan's chair (the left chair in the pic). He picked up his chair, the Pico Arm Chair made by GCI Outdoor, at our local Costco for $53. The best parts of the chair for him is the steel frame, it's carrying case, it's compact size when folded, the breathable fabric, the seat back storage compartments, and it's flat bottom and flat back that create a directors style seat which Jon claims to be good for his back. He tried to convince me that every member of our family needed this chair. But I disagreed for very specific reasons. The biggest reason was, HELLO, no cup holder. Yup that is right nowhere to put your beer except on the ground were, with two children a dog and of course dirt you are not likely to get it back in the same condition. Some more down sides are how hard it is to fold up, and there are no arm rests just 2 steel bars wrapped in a minimal amount of fabric. Also when we took it for a test run on the grass in our front yard the legs were unstable and the chair teetered on the uneven ground. So now on to my chair.
At Canadian Tire today I picked up a beautiful Coleman Oversized Quad Chair with Cooler for $39. This bad boy has all the bells and wistles and still packes up to a reasonably small size. The best parts for me is the cup holders (yup two of them), the stability of the chair even on uneven ground, the hammock style seat and back make for a comfortable ride, comfortable arm rests, it folds up easily and fairly compact, and it is reasonably light. So needled to say Jonathan thinks my chair is to saggy to be comfortable.
Jonathan and I are still in disagreement, we both think our chairs rock. So that is what we left it at today. I am confident thought that I will be sharing my second cup holder with him, even though he swears he does not need one. This does work out good for me in the end though as I am guaranteed he will sit next to me around the campfire. : )